Barcelona and Argentina Star Lionel Messi and His Father Will Stand Trial for Alleged Tax Fraud After a Judge Rejected His Lawyers’ Appeal.

The Spanish judge rebutted the counter demand that the player be excluded from the case against him and his father that alleges they withheld 4 million euros (£3.14 million) in unpaid taxes from 2007-09.

The judge’s statement read: “In this type of crime, it is not necessary for someone to have complete knowledge of all the accounting and business operations nor the exact quantity, rather it is sufficient to be aware of the designs to commit fraud and consent to them.”

Messi and his father have five days to appeal the ruling.

The four-time World Player of the Year and his father, Jorge Messi, appeared in court in Gava, the Barcelona neighborhood in which the footballer has a home, on September 27 after being accused of evading tax payments on image rights.

They are suspected of setting up companies in Uruguay and Belize to avoid paying tax in Spain.

Both men deny the allegations, saying the deals were done by Messi’s former agent without their knowledge.

The pair have paid back 5m euros (£4.2m) to the Spanish state, but the authorities have stepped up their efforts to crack down on tax fraud amid a national financial crisis.

Messi said in September: “We have always fulfilled our tax obligations following the advice of our tax consultants who will take care of clarifying this situation.”

Well…Messi is the best at what he does and i surely hope he is found innocent.